Manchester City fans believe Sven Goran Eriksson got the bargain of the season when he snapped up Elano for #8million.

But the Brazilian playmaker was so poor growing up in Sao Paulo that even the street gangs didn't bother to rob him!

The 26-year-old - full name Elano Blumer - really does have a rags-to-riches tale to tell. Since moving to City, he has for the first time been able to put glory first.

And perhaps it is no coincidence that he rates the stunning free kick with which he put Newcastle to the sword last week as the best goal he has ever scored. "Money was always scarce when I was growing up, but I didn't know any other life so it was something I was used to," Elano told Sunday Mirror Sport.

"Everyone knows about the gangs that roam the cities in Brazil. The violence wasn't quite as bad when I was a kid as it is now, but Sao Paulo was still a very dangerous place.

"Maybe what helped me was that I had nothing worth stealing. All I owned was the clothes I wore - a T-shirt, a pair of shorts and the slippers on my feet - and the few pennies I needed to catch the bus to training.

"I was about 13 when I signed for my first club, Guarani, and to get to the stadium I had to catch four buses there and four back.

"I was like most of the boys at the club. Money was so scarce that most of us couldn't even afford to buy a pair of boots. I learned very quickly that the only solution was to be respectful to the senior players and hope that when they had finished with an old pair of boots they would hand them down to you.

"This is a way of life for many boys in Brazil - and I wouldn't say my family were anywhere near being the poorest of the poor."

Elano was snapped up by Santos, the legendary club of Pele and Carlos Alberto, and seemed set to follow in their footsteps after making his international debut early in 2004 before establishing himself in the team that would qualify for Germany 2006.

But when he accepted Shakhtar Donetsk's offer of the chance to secure the future of his parents and five sisters with a move to Ukraine with the World Cup still 12 months away, he dropped off the international radar. Elano said: "I moved to Ukraine purely for financial reasons. Coming to Europe offered me and my family too many economic advantages.

"But while I enjoyed the football part of being a player with Shakhtar Donetsk, I suffered a big culture shock going from Brazil to a place where the temperatures are sometimes as low as minus 23.

"I don't regret going to Ukraine because I needed to secure my family financially, but I still believe the move cost me my place at the last World Cup.

"By the end, I was praying to God every day for the right opportunity to come along - and Manchester City were the answer to my prayers."